Jeff Francis comes through, A’s beat Marlins in 14 innings

Dominating left-hander Sean Doolittle had a rare stumble on Saturday and he wasn’t the A’s best reliever at Marlins Park. The man of the hour – a late hour, the 14th inning – was the somewhat forgotten long man, Jeff Francis.

Francis pulled off a crazy seat-of-the-pants relief effort, taking over from Jim Johnson with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 14th and getting the final two outs as Oakland topped Miami 7-6. Francis, a longtime major-league starter, earned his first save in 236 career appearances.

“I’m not used to finishing games,” Francis said. “To slap hands with these guys after the game was a thrill. … I always thought if I got a save, it would be the last three innings of a blowout.”

Francis struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia looking, then got Donovan Solano to fly out to end the game.

“That’s a pretty tall order, bases loaded – he holds the balance of the game in his hands,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Terrific. He had a calmness when he came in the game.”

The A’s, who took the lead in the top of the 14th when Brandon Moss doubled with two outs and scored on a base hit by Josh Donaldson, are a season-high 20 games over .500, at 50-30. They’ve had the best record in the majors for the past 11 days.

Doolittle has had a lot to do with that – he entered the game with a 26 1/3 scoreless innings streak, longest in the majors. That came to an end, along with his string of 24 consecutive batters retired, when Giancarlo Stanton doubled with one out in the ninth. Casey McGehee sent Stanton home with a single to center to tie the game, Doolittle’s first blown save since becoming Oakland’s full-time closer.

Doolittle said he made good pitches to both men, but they made the adjustments. “Sometimes you take your medicine,” he said.

Making it easier to take was the rest of the bullpen’s performance. Doolittle raved over the word done by Dan Otero, Johnson (who worked 2 1/3 innings and got the win) and especially Francis “stepping into a situation that’s not his role, but you’d never know it,” Doolittle said. “He stayed poised, he attacked the zone. It was awesome to see.”

Both teams will be really hurting for pitching on Sunday, and while the A’s probably will make a roster move, it’s not expected to be for a pitcher. Josh Reddick will have an MRI on his right knee on Sunday morning, and he is likely to return to the DL with the same injury that kept him out the first three weeks of June, and first baseman Nate Freiman is expected to join the team.

Reddick re-injured the knee on a throw in the second inning and, he said, the pain was worse than the first time, sharp and on the inside of the knee. Typically, any significant structural damage would require surgery.

Coco Crisp’s baserunning again came to the fore on Saturday. With the A’s down a run in the fifth, he was at third base when Moss struck out on a ball in the dirt. As the throw went from catcher Saltalamacchia to first base to retire Moss, Crisp sprinted home, beating the return throw with ease to tie the game.

“Perfect,” Melvin said. “You’re hoping there’s no pump-fake involved. It’s a risk but he’s one of the best baserunners in the game.”

Alberto Callaspo had three hits and drove in a run with a base hit in the eighth to give the A’s a 6-5 lead.

Starter Sonny Gray, working on nine days’ rest because his turn was skipped to give him a little break, was not sharp. He gave up three runs in the second, two on a double by Reed Johnson, and two more in the fourth. The five runs matched his season high, and over his past 36 innings, Gray has allowed 22 earned runs.

Callaspo provided an RBI dink just beyond third in Oakland’s four-run first inning; the A’s had five singles in the inning. The A’s didn’t score again off Nathan Eovaldi until the fifth inning, when Crisp walked, went to third on a double by John Jaso and did his dash home on the throw to first base.

Jed Lowrie led off the eighth with a double off lefty Mike Dunn, went to third on a groundout by Stephen Vogt and scored on Callaspo’s one-out single up the middle.

Craig Gentry threw out Jake Marisnick trying to stretch a single into a double in the eighth inning. A’s outfielders have a major-league-leading 23 assists.